Heart of the Shadow
by Winter Lady
Summary: A secret kept through generations in jeopardy.


_This is another storyline following on New Discoveries. Guess I'm going to have to start organizing them better. I'm continuing to write these stories as episodes in a larger story._

_Please review – I'd love to know what you think of this path._

_All characters, etc belong to Bioware._

Heart of the Shadow

She stood at the viewport gazing out into open space. Usually, the vastness of the vista calmed her mind allowing her to focus. She never tired of the immensity before her and considered herself very lucky. With her own ship, forever traveling to the next port, she felt a freedom many would envy. Her location was only known to a few at any point in time. It was very rare that a salarian female ever got to venture off their home words. But she had always been different, born into the clan propagating one of the great secrets of the known galaxy. Collectively, they were the Shadow Broker. As the clan's dalatrass, she controlled the complex system. Her siblings were her link to the network dealing with their agents and information brokers. She lived for the never ending challenge of balancing the information that they traded. Never giving one race or faction the advantage over the other, the ultimate balancing act, but always having the power to do so. That kept them all in check and ensured that each government, business and independent would continue to come to their network, continuing the cycle. It was the perfect system. She was isolated, protected, remote or so she believed.

As with most salarians, her mind was constantly in motion, driving down many paths, but lately it had been distracted. Two days ago, she had received a short burst communication. In her own personal code, she didn't think twice before opening it. That moment may have changed her life. It's contents were simply "Hello Dorn, I know who you are." Simple, yet extremely effective. Somehow, it had gotten through directly to her. This was unthinkable with all the layers of security and misdirection. She had immediately contacted her eldest brother, Jyri. He was the heaviest handed of them all, responsible for removing any threats to their clan or secret.

While they may have made assumptions on what the message really meant, the fact that it had gotten through was the main concern. Someone knew something they should not. She had also set her youngest sibling, their communications expert, on the problem. Nuada had been intrigued by the challenge. He had failed to see the threat, choosing to believe that it was one of her other brothers, trying to distract her.

Very soon, the negotiations would begin with other clans and she would be producing the daughter of this generation. Everyone had their opinions on which clan should be chosen to join with theirs. The only point they had agreed on was that their secret would not be part of the bargain. She would share that with her daughter when she came of age. Dorn was not yet sure which clan would give them the greatest advantage. That was the issue she should be spending her time with, not this hopefully meaningless threat.

Jyri had set multiple agents in motion, searching for the source of the message. As yet, none had returned any clues. She was unsure if she would share the problem with the rest of her brothers in their meeting this afternoon, but this morning, the mystery was eating away at her composure, monopolizing her thoughts. The dalatrass was jolted out of her reverie by a loud beep from her central comm terminal.

"We had an agent report in from the Presidium." Jyri's voice came over the link. It was digitally distorted, the dalatrass realized, thinking that it was unusual for him to use any extra precautions when speaking to her.

"Well?" She was not in the mood for prying the details out of him.

"She tracked the signal we gave her to an abandoned portable extranet terminal. It matched the terminus of the transmission." He stated agitation clear in his voice.

"I had her leave it with Barla Von. We'll send someone to pick it up and get it to Nuada. Maybe he can make something of it." Jyri spit out the last part, clearly angry that he would have to depend on his sibling for the analysis. Dorn had to watch those two. They clearly had separate, critical roles to play in their operation, but competed relentlessly with each other none the less.

"When will you be here?" She changed the subject smoothly.

"Later." Jyri's curt reply was cut short as he terminated the connection.

"My Lady," her pilot politely announced, "Arrival at Port Hanshan in 5 minutes."

"Please have Kisha prepare the conference room."

"As you command." The response was immediate. Dorn's small crew had been with her since they began this journey almost 5 years ago. Before that time, she had been practically chained to her home planet, participating in the decisions of the network, but never on her own. At 35, her mother had contracted a virus that their med staff was unable to overcome. Dorn's rise to power had been immediate and at 15 she had become the clan's youngest dalatrass in their history. Since that time, she had solidified her position, gaining control over her family as she placed them in positions of power and tried to keep them all pulling in the same direction. That had not always been an easy task. None had any patience with any of the others and lately, they had her impending choice to argue over as well. What she didn't need was this latest complication. Agitated, she began to work on her plans preparing for the afternoon's meeting.


End file.
